Abstract

A large experimental literature documents gender differences in competitiveness. Yet most existing work conceptualizes competitiveness as an individual decision made in isolation. In contrast, real-life career decisions, such as applying for a promotion, are frequently discussed with others. These discussions may matter because others, may hold different preferences, and may offer perspectives that shape how risks and competitive incentives are evaluated. Despite their prevalence, the causal role of such discussions remains largely understudied. In this paper, we investigate how discussion with a male partner and responsibility for that partner’s earnings affect women’s willingness to compete. In a first study, we implement a 2×2 laboratory experiment that varies whether women’s competitiveness decision affects only their own earnings or also those of the other, and whether prior to taking their decision they discuss their choise with another or not. On average, neither responsibility for another’s earnings nor discussion lead to an average shift in competitiveness. However, discussion relevance leads to larger absoluate changes in competitiveness. This could be driven by two mechanisms. First, women may retain their own preferences but place greater weight on their partner’s preferences, or second, discussion may shift women’s own risk preferences toward those of their partner.

To disentangle these mechanisms, we conduct a second study, in which participants engage in a relevant discussion without knowing whether the subsequent competitiveness decision will affect only the woman or both participants. Our findings show that discussion leads to preference transmission, i.e. women’s competitiveness changes even for decisions that only affect themselves. Overall, our study highlights the importance of discussions with affected but imperfectly informed others, and shows that these can fundamentally reshape how competitive decisions are formed. (co-authors : Quentin Cavalan and Fabio Galeotti )

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